NE grad students Hagen and Loveless receive awards
Alexander Hagen
A Purdue University Nuclear Engineering Ph.D. student was recently announced as one of the award-winning recipients in the 2017 Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Awards, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Technology R&D.
Alexander Hagen (Thesis Advisor: Dr. Rusi Taleyarkhan) has been awarded a prize in the Competition for Students at Universities with Less than $600 Million in 2015 R&D Expenditures. His award-winning research paper, “Detection of Special Nuclear Material in Cargo using Continuous Neutron Interrogation and Tension Metastable Fluid Detectors,” was presented at the American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting in November 2016.
Hagen’s research focuses on the increased occurrence and severity of terrorist attacks and entails a novel method for finding and stopping smuggled nuclear material.
The Innovations in Nuclear Technology R&D Awards program is designed to 1) award graduate and undergraduate students for innovative nuclear-technology-relevant research publications, 2) demonstrate the Department of Energy’s commitment to higher education in nuclear-technology-relevant disciplines, and 3) support communications among university students and Department of Energy representatives.
The program awarded 23 prizes in 2017 for student publications relevant to innovative nuclear technology. In addition to cash awards, award-winning students will have a variety of other opportunities.
Amanda Loveless
Purdue Nuclear Engineering graduate student, Amanda Loveless was recently announced as a recipient of a Directed Energy Professional Society (DEPS) graduate scholarship for the 2017-2018 academic year.
Loveless is one of 14 students to receive the $10,000 partial scholarship, which allows recipients to continue studying or pursuing a career in directed-energy (DE) technology areas, including high-energy laser (HEL) and high-power microwave (HPM) areas.
Her research is related to high power microwave systems, and studies under the advising of Dr. Allen Garner, assistant professor in the School of Nuclear Engineering.
Since 2011, DEPS has provided more than $715,000 in scholarships. The funds for these awards are provided by grants from the High Energy Laser Joint Technology Office, the Office of Naval Research, and DEPS.